Technology for notifying vehicle operators of incident-prone locations

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for improving vehicular safety are disclosed. According to embodiments, an electronic device may collect or accumulate various sensor data associated with operation of a vehicle by an individual, including image data, telematics data, and/or data indicative of a condition of the individual. The electronic device may analyze the sensor data to determine whether the individual is distracted and whether the vehicle is approaching a location that may be prone to incidents. The electronic device may accordingly generate and present a notification to the individual to mitigate any posed risks.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority benefit of U.S. Provisional ApplicationNo. 62/261,639, filed Dec. 1, 2015, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD

The present disclosure is directed to using sensor data to detectincident-prone locations. More particularly, the present disclosure isdirected to systems and methods for analyzing sensor data to notifydistracted drivers of upcoming locations that are prone to incidents.

BACKGROUND

Individuals have been operating and traveling in vehicles as a means oftransportation for decades. With the increasing prevalence of electronicdevices and sensors, there are more available components to generatedata associated with vehicle operation. For example, vehicle sensors canmeasure or detect vehicle location, acceleration, general movement, andother information. There are existing applications that use this data tofacilitate certain functionalities. For example, vehicle operators areable to share their velocity with other vehicle operators so that theother operators may gauge certain traffic conditions.

However, there are no existing solutions for effectively and efficientlyusing certain types of sensor data to reduce or eliminate certaindriving risks. Accordingly, there is an opportunity for systems andmethods to leverage sensor data to data to identify, and reduce oreliminate certain driving risks.

SUMMARY

In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method in an electronic deviceis provided. The method comprises identifying a location that is deemedto be prone to distraction-related incidents, accumulating, from a setof sensors, a set of sensor data during operation of the vehicle, andanalyzing, by a computer processor, the set of sensor data, comprising:determining that the vehicle is near the location, and determining thatan operator of the vehicle is distracted. The method further comprisesgenerating a notification indicating that the operator of the vehicle isdistracted, and presenting the notification via a user interface of theelectronic device.

In another embodiment, an electronic device is provided. The electronicdevice comprises a user interface configured to present content, amemory storing non-transitory computer executable instructions, and aprocessor configured to interface with the user interface and thememory. The processor is configured to execute the non-transitorycomputer executable instructions to cause the processor to identify alocation that is deemed to be prone to distraction-related incidents,accumulate, from a set of sensors, a set of sensor data during operationof the vehicle, analyze the set of sensor data, comprising: determinethat the vehicle is near the location, and determine that an operator ofthe vehicle is distracted, generate a notification indicating that theoperator of the vehicle is distracted, and present the notification viaa user interface of the electronic device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIGS. 1A and 1B depict example environments within a vehicle includingvarious components configured to facilitate various functionalities, inaccordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 1C depicts an example environment including vehicles and variouscomponents configured to facilitate various functionalities, inaccordance with embodiments.

FIG. 2 depicts an exemplary signal diagram associated with assessingvehicle operation and vehicle operator condition, and facilitating thecommunication of notifications, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIGS. 3A and 3B depict user interfaces associated with examplenotifications, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 depicts an exemplary flow diagram associated with improvingsafety within a vehicle, in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an exemplary electronic device, inaccordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present embodiments may relate to, inter alia, generating andtransmitting notifications of detected risks associated with vehicleoperation. According to certain aspects, systems and methods may accesssensor data from a set of sensors, where the sensor data may includeimage data depicting an operator of a vehicle and collected by a set ofimage sensors, and telematics data associated with operation of thevehicle. The systems and methods may analyze the image data to determinea level of distraction of the operator. Further, the systems and methodsmay determine, based on the telematics data, that the vehicle isapproaching a location or area that may be especially prone toincidents.

Based on the level of distraction of the operator and thecircumstance(s) of the vehicle, the systems and methods may determinethat there is an elevated risk for the vehicle operator. Accordingly,the systems and methods may generate a notification that indicates therisk and optionally includes information associated with mitigating therisk. The systems and methods may then display or otherwise output thenotification so that the operator of the vehicle may review thenotification and take appropriate action.

The systems and methods therefore offer numerous benefits. Inparticular, the systems and methods effectively and efficientlydetermine vehicular risks based on collected and analyzed image data.Further, the systems and methods effectively and efficiently generateand present notifications that warn vehicle operators of the vehicularrisks. As a result, occurrences of accidents and incidents may bereduced. It should be appreciated that other benefits are envisioned.

The systems and methods discussed herein address a challenge that isparticular to vehicle operation. In particular, the challenge relates toa difficulty in assessing certain vehicular risks, and communicatingnotifications or warnings of the vehicular risks. Conventionaltechnologies are not able to reconcile operator distraction levels withlocations that may be prone to incidents. The systems and methods offerimproved capabilities to solve these problems by accessing and analyzinga set of sensor data, including image data, location data, andtelematics data, to ascertain levels of distraction and circumstances ofincreased location-based risk. Further, because the systems and methodsemploy the collection, analysis, and transmission of data associatedwith vehicles and vehicle operation, the systems and methods arenecessarily rooted in computer technology in order to overcome the notedshortcomings that specifically arise in the realm of vehicle operation.

Similarly, the systems and methods provide improvements in a technicalfield, namely, vehicle data compiling. Instead of the systems andmethods merely being performed by hardware components using basicfunctions, the systems and methods employ complex steps that go beyondthe mere concept of simply retrieving and combining data using acomputer. In particular, the hardware components capture image data,analyze the image data to determine vehicle operator states, collect oraccumulate telematics data, and generate and display notifications,among other functionalities.

According to implementations, the systems and methods may support adynamic, real-time or near-real-time analysis of any captured, received,and/or detected data. In particular, the electronic device may receiveor capture image and telematics data in real-time or near real-time, andmay automatically and dynamically analyze the captured data. Theelectronic device may also automatically and dynamically generate andcommunicate relevant notifications in real-time or near-real-time. Inthis regard, any individual who receives a notification is afforded thebenefit of accurate and relevant data.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example depiction of an interior of a vehicle 100that may include various components associated with the systems andmethods. In some scenarios, an individual 102 may operate (i.e., drive)the vehicle 100. Although the individual 102 is depicted as sitting inthe driver's seat of the vehicle 100 and operating the vehicle 100, itshould be appreciated that the individual 102 may be a passenger of thevehicle, and may sit in a front passenger seat or any of a set of rearpassenger seats. In scenarios in which the individual 102 is a passengerof the vehicle 100, another individual may operate the vehicle 100.

As depicted in FIG. 1A, the interior of the vehicle 100 may support aset of image sensors 105, 106, 107. In the particular scenario depictedin FIG. 1A, each of the image sensors 105, 107 is located near a topcorner of the interior of the vehicle 100, and the image sensor 106 islocated below a rear view mirror. Although three (3) image sensors aredepicted in FIG. 1A, it should be appreciated that additional or fewerimage sensors are envisioned. Further, it should be appreciated that theimage sensors 105, 106, 107 may be disposed or located at variousalternate or additional portions of the vehicle 100, including on anexterior of the vehicle 100.

Each of the image sensors 105, 106, 107 may be configured to detect andconvey information that constitutes an image. In particular, each of theimage sensors 105, 106, 107 may generate digital image data according tothe detected information, where the digital image data may be in theform of image data and/or video data. Although not depicted in FIG. 1A,the vehicle 100 may also include one or more microphones that may bedisposed in one or more locations, where the microphones may beconfigured to capture audio data that may supplement the digital imagedata captured by the image sensors 105, 106, 107.

The vehicle 100 may also be configured with an electronic device 110configured with any combination of software and hardware components. Insome implementations, the electronic device 110 may be included as partof an on-board diagnostic (OBD) system or any other type of systemconfigured to be installed in the vehicle 100, such as an originalequipment manufacturer (OEM) system. The electronic device 110 mayinclude a set of sensors configured to detect and record varioustelematics data associated with the vehicle 100. In someimplementations, the electronic device 110 may be configured tocommunicate with (i.e., request, retrieve, or receive data from) a setof sensors disposed in other locations of the vehicle 100, such as eachof the image sensors 105, 106, 107. Further, in some implementations,the electronic device 110 itself may be equipped with one or more imagesensors.

According to embodiments, the set of sensors included in the electronicdevice 110 or otherwise configured to communicate with the electronicdevice 110 may be of various types. For example, the set of sensors mayinclude a location module (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS)chip), an accelerometer, an ignition sensor, a clock, speedometer, atorque sensor, a throttle position sensor, a compass, a yaw rate sensor,a tilt sensor, a steering angle sensor, a brake sensor, and/or othersensors. The set of sensors may also be configured to detect variousconditions of the individual 102, including various biometricinformation, movements, and/or the like.

FIG. 1B depicts another configuration of an interior of the vehicle 100that may include various components associated with the systems andmethods. Similar to the depiction of FIG. 1A, the depiction of FIG. 1Billustrates the individual 102 who may be an operator or passenger ofthe vehicle. The individual 102 may access and interface with anelectronic device 115 that may be located within the vehicle 100.Although FIG. 1B depicts the individual 102 holding the electronicdevice 115, it should be appreciated that the electronic device 115 maybe located within the vehicle 100 without the individual 102 contactingthe electronic device 115. For example, the electronic device 115 may besecured within a mount.

According to embodiments, the electronic device 115 may be any type ofelectronic device such as a mobile device (e.g., a smartphone). Itshould be appreciated that other types of electronic devices and/ormobile devices are envisioned, such as notebook computers, tablets,phablets, GPS (Global Positioning System) or GPS-enabled devices, smartwatches, smart glasses, smart bracelets, wearable electronics, PDAs(personal digital assistants), pagers, computing devices configured forwireless communication, and/or the like. The electronic device 115 maybe configured with at least one image sensor 120 configured to capturedigital image data, as discussed herein. The electronic device 115 mayfurther include additional sensors, such as a clock, accelerometer,location module (e.g., GPS chip), gyroscope, compass, biometric, and/orother types of sensors.

In some implementations, the electronic device 115 may be configured tointerface with additional components of the vehicle 100. In particular,the electronic device 115 may interface with the electronic device 110and sensors thereof, any of the image sensors 105, 106, 107, and/orother components of the vehicle 100, such as any additional sensors thatmay be disposed within the vehicle 100. Further, although not depictedin FIG. 1A or 1B, the vehicle 100 and/or each of the electronic devices110, 115 may be equipped with storage or memory capable of storingvarious data.

In operation, either of the electronic devices 110, 115 may beconfigured to receive or otherwise access image data captured by anycombination of the image sensors 105, 106, 107, 120. The electronicdevices 110, 115 may access user profile data that may be stored in thestorage or memory, and may compare the received image data to the userprofile data to identify the individual 102 who may be depicted in theimage data. Additionally or alternatively, the electronic devices 110,115 may analyze the image data to detect any movements made by theindividual 102 that may be depicted in the image data, as well asdetermine or ascertain a state of the individual 102.

The electronic devices 110, 115 may further interface with the varioussensors or other components to assess real-time operation dataassociated with the vehicle 100. For example, the real-time vehicleoperation data may include any sensor data from the yaw rate sensor, thetilt sensor, the steering angle sensor, the brake sensor, and/or anyother sensor. Further, the electronic devices 110, 115 may accesssupplemental movement data from additional sensors, such as the locationmodule, the gyroscope, and/or the accelerometer of the electronic device115. According to embodiments, the real-time vehicle operation dataand/or the supplemental movement data may include or indicate a set ofdriving events corresponding to operation of the vehicle. The electronicdevices 110, 115 may also access operator data from various sensors(including one or more of the image sensors 105, 106, 107), where theoperator data indicates various condition(s) or movement(s) of theindividual 102. The electronic devices 110, 115 may each be equippedwith various user interface components, such as a display screen, thatis configured to present information, receive input from users (e.g.,via a selection), and/or perform other functions.

The electronic devices 110, 115 may additionally communicate with remotecomponents via one or more network connections to retrieve additionalinformation related to the environment of the vehicle 100 and/oroperation thereof. FIG. 1C depicts a system 150 including componentsthat may implement various of the systems and methods. The system 150may include a set of vehicles: a vehicle 130 and a vehicle 135, such asthe vehicle 100 as described with respect to FIGS. 1A and 1B. Thevehicles 130, 135 may be configured with a set of electronic devices131, 132, such as the electronic devices 110, 115 as described withrespect to FIGS. 1A and 1B. Each of the electronic devices 131, 132 maybe integrated within the vehicles 130, 135 or may be separate from (butlocated within or in proximity to) the vehicles 130, 135.

Each of the electronic devices 131, 132 may be configured to communicatewith at least one remote server 127 via one or more networks 125. Itshould be appreciated that various amounts of the remote server(s) 127are envisioned. According to embodiments, the remote server(s) 127 maystore data (i.e., may serve as a central repository) and/or exchangedata with the electronic devices 131, 132. For example, the remoteserver 127 may store data or information associated with a set oflocations, and may provide the data or location to the electronicdevices 131, 132. The remote server 127 may also including logic orprocessing capabilities that may instruct the electronic devices 131,132 to perform certain actions. The network(s) 125 may support any typeof data communication via any standard or technology (e.g., GSM, CDMA,TDMA, WCDMA, LTE, EDGE, OFDM, GPRS, EV-DO, UWB, Internet, IEEE 802including Ethernet, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and others). The network(s)125 may also be one or more private or local networks or dedicatedfrequency bands. The network(s) 125 may enable the electronic devices131, 132 and the remote server 127 to communicate among each other inreal-time or near-real time.

FIG. 2 depicts a signal diagram 200 associated with facilitating certainfunctionalities of the systems and methods. The signal diagram 200includes an image sensor 242 (such as one of the image sensors 105, 106,107, 120 as discussed with respect to FIGS. 1A and 1B), an electronicdevice 246 (such as one of the electronic devices 131, 132 as discussedwith respect to FIG. 1C), and at least one server 248 (such as theserver 127 as discussed with respect to FIG. 1C). According toembodiments, the electronic device 246 may be located within a vehicle.Further, the electronic device 246 may be equipped with or configured tocommunicate with a set of sensors configured to capture data associatedwith operation of the vehicle. It should be appreciated that additionalor alternative components and devices are envisioned.

The signal diagram 200 may begin when the electronic device 246optionally requests (252) image data from the image sensor 242.According to embodiments, the electronic device 246 may automaticallyrequest the image data periodically (e.g., once every ten seconds, onceevery minute, once every hour), or a user of the electronic device 246may cause the electronic device 246 to request the image data. Further,the request may include a specified amount of image data and/or aspecific time component (e.g., real-time image(s), real-time video,image(s) and/or video recorded five minutes ago). It should beappreciated that the image sensor 242 may be internal to or externalfrom the electronic device 246.

The image sensor 242 may capture (254) image data and send (256) theimage data to the electronic device 246. In one implementation, theimage sensor 242 may automatically send the image data to the electronicdevice 246 in real-time or near real-time as the image sensor 242captures the image data, and/or in response to a request from theelectronic device 246. In another implementation, the image sensor 242may send previously-captured image data to the electronic device 246,such as if the image sensor 242 interfaces with some type of memory orstorage. It should be appreciated that the image data may depict avehicle operator or a passenger of the vehicle.

The electronic device 246 may analyze (258) the image data. According toembodiments, the electronic device 246 may analyze the image data toidentify the individual depicted in the image data as well as a set ofcharacteristics associated with the individual. In particular, theelectronic device 246 may determine characteristics such as a level ofdrowsiness, an attentiveness level, movement (or non-movement) of theindividual, whether the individual's eyes or opened or closed, headposition and/or head movement, and/or other characteristics. Inembodiments, the characteristics may be indicative of the level ofdistraction of the individual.

The electronic device 246 may further capture (260) additional sensordata. In one scenario, the electronic device 246 may capture sensor datafrom a set of internal sensors. In an alternative or additionalscenario, the electronic device 248 may capture sensor data from a setof external sensors, such as sensors that may be incorporated within thevehicle. The set of sensors may include, but are not limited to, any ofthe following: clock, accelerometer, location module (e.g., GPS chip),thermometer, seat heater sensor, gyroscope, compass, biometric, ignitionsensor, speedometer, torque sensor, throttle position sensor, and/orother sensors. Generally, some of the set of sensors may be configuredto generate telematics data associated with operation of the vehicle,where the set of telematics data may indicate speed, heading,acceleration data, braking data, turning data, and/or other relevantparameters associated with operation of the vehicle. Further, some ofthe set of sensors may be configured to generate sensor data indicativeof the state or condition of the individual.

The electronic device 246 may analyze (262) the additional sensor data.According to embodiments, the electronic device 246 may analyze theadditional sensor data to identify a set of characteristics associatedwith the individual and/or with the individual's operation of thevehicle. In particular, the electronic device 246 may determinecharacteristics or combinations of characteristics that may beindicative of the individual being distracted. For example, theelectronic device 246 may determine that the individual has beenoperating the vehicle for over two continuous hours and that the seatheater of the vehicle has been activated for over an hour, a conditionthat may be indicative of a reduced level of attentiveness. For furtherexample, the electronic device 246 may determine that the individual hasnot activated the vehicle brakes in over ten (10) minutes, anothercondition that may be indicative of a reduced level of attentiveness. Itshould be appreciated that various characteristics and combinations ofcharacteristics associated with respective levels of distraction areenvisioned, and that the associated information may be set, input,and/or modified as desired by an administrator.

The electronic device may identify (264) a location. In particular, theelectronic device may identify its location via a set of GPS coordinatesthat may be representative of the location of the vehicle. Afteridentifying the location, the electronic device may retrieve (266), fromthe server(s) 248, data associated with the location identified in(264). In particular, the retrieved data may indicate that a certainlocation or area is deemed as distraction-prone and/or susceptible toincidents. For example, a certain location or area may experience ahigher incidence of vehicle accidents or incidents. For further example,a certain location or area may experience a higher volume of trafficand/or pedestrians. In an implementation, the retrieved data mayindicate a risk score (or similar metric) for the particular location,where the higher the risk score, the higher the risk of incident at thatparticular location.

The electronic device 246 may determine (268) whether there is anelevated risk of incident associated with the individual operating thevehicle. Specifically, the electronic device 246 may calculate a risk ofincident (e.g., a metric on a predetermined scale) and determine whetherthe risk of incident exceeds a threshold value. For example, if thecalculated risk of incident is “8” and the threshold value is “7”, thenthe electronic device 246 may determine that there is an elevated riskof incident. According to embodiments, the electronic device 246 maycalculate the risk of incident based on any combination of the imagedata (and the analysis thereof), the additional sensor data (and theanalysis thereof), and the location data.

As an example, the electronic device 246 may determine that the vehicleis approaching a stretch of roadway that has a higher incidence ofaccidents than other nearby stretches of roadway, and may also determinefrom the image data and the additional sensor data that the individualis not showing signs of being distracted. Accordingly, the electronicdevice 246 may deem that the individual is not at an elevated risk ofincident.

As another example, the electronic device 246 may determine that thevehicle is located in a school zone with a reduced speed limit, and mayalso determine from the image data and the additional sensor data thatthe individual is showing signs of being distracted. Accordingly, theelectronic device 246 may deem that the individual is at an elevatedrisk of incident.

If the electronic device 246 determines that the individual is not at anelevated risk of incident (“NO”), processing may repeat, end, or proceedto other functionality. If the electronic device 246 determines that theindividual is at an elevated risk of incident (“YES”), the electronicdevice 246 may generate (270) a notification. In embodiments, thenotification may be in the form of a visual and/or auditory notificationthat indicates or annunciates a warning for the individual. Theelectronic device 246 may also determine a set of suggestions formodifying vehicle operation to reduce risk of incident. For example, asuggestion could be to reduce speed or to turn on headlights. Inembodiments, the notification may include information associated withthe location as well as the suggestion(s) for modifying vehicleoperation to reduce a risk of incident.

The electronic device 246 may also display (272) the notification. Inone implementation, the electronic device 246 may display thenotification in the form of a pop-up notification that may bedisplayable by a user interface of the electronic device 246. In analternative or additional implementation, the electronic device 246 mayannunciate the notification via a speaker component of the electronicdevice 246. As a result, the individual operating the vehicle may noticeand review the notification, assess how to respond, and undertake anyvehicle operation adjustments that may mitigate the posed risk. Forexample, the individual may slow down, pull the vehicle over, orundertake another action.

In an optional implementation, the electronic device 246 may cause thevehicle to activate (274) an autonomous mode and the vehicle maytransition control from the individual to its on-board computer. Inparticular, the electronic device 246 may determine that, to mitigaterisk, autonomous operation of the vehicle is safer than manual operationby the individual.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate interfaces including example notifications.An electronic device (e.g., a mobile device, such as a smartphone) maybe configured to display the interfaces and/or receive selections andinputs via the interfaces, where the electronic device may be associatedwith an operator of a vehicle, or may be integrated into the vehicle.For example, a dedicated application that is configured to operate onthe electronic device may display the interfaces. It should beappreciated that the interfaces are merely examples and that alternativeor additional content is envisioned.

FIG. 3A illustrates an interface 350 that includes various informationassociated with a vehicle operator's current operation, in a scenario.In particular, the interface 350 indicates that the vehicle isapproaching an intersection with a high incidence of vehicularaccidents. Further, the interface 350 encourages the vehicle operator toexercise caution when approaching and entering the intersection. Theinterface 350 includes an okay selection 351 that when selected, causesthe electronic device to dismiss the interface 350, or perform otherfunctionalities.

FIG. 3B illustrates an interface 355 that includes various informationassociated with a vehicle operator's current operation, in anotherscenario. In particular, the interface 355 indicates that the vehicle isdriving in a school zone during school hours and that the vehicleoperator appears to be distracted. Further, the interface 355 encouragesthe vehicle operator to be attentive and observe the posted speed limitof 20 mph. The interface 355 includes an okay selection 356 that whenselected, causes the electronic device to dismiss the interface 355, orperform other functionalities.

FIG. 4 depicts is a block diagram of an exemplary method 400 ofimproving safety within a vehicle. The method 400 may be facilitated byan electronic device that may be located within a vehicle orincorporated as part of the vehicle. The electronic device may supportexecution of a dedicated application that may facilitate thefunctionalities of the method 400. Further, the electronic device mayenable a user or individual (e.g., an operator of the vehicle) to makevarious selections and facilitate various functionalities. Moreover, theelectronic device may be equipped with and/or configured to communicatewith a set of sensors.

The method 400 may begin at block 405 when the electronic deviceidentifies a location that is deemed to be prone to distraction-relatedincidents. In embodiments, the electronic device may interface with aremote server to retrieve information associated a particular location,and determine, from the information, that the particular location isprone to distraction-related incidents. In an implementation, theelectronic device may identify its current location (i.e., the locationof the vehicle) and may retrieve the information associated with theparticular location based on the current location, and/or based on aprojected upcoming location (e.g., based on the heading and direction oftravel of the vehicle).

At block 410, the electronic device may collect or accumulate, from aset of sensors, a set of sensor data associated with operation of thevehicle. In embodiments, the set of sensor data may include anycombination of location data (e.g., in the form of GPS coordinates),various telematics data indicating vehicle operation parameters, anddata indicating a state or condition of the vehicle operator.

At block 415, the electronic device may determine whether the vehicle isnear the location that is deemed to be prone to distraction-relatedincidents. In an implementation, the electronic device may determinewhether the vehicle is located within a threshold distance of thelocation. In an additional or alternative implementation, the electronicdevice may determine, based on at least one of location data, velocity(i.e., speed) data, and heading (i.e., direction) data, that the vehicleis approaching the location, in which case the vehicle may be deemed tobe near the location. If the electronic device determines that thevehicle is not near the location (“NO”), processing may return to block405 or block 410, may end, or may proceed to other functionality.

If the electronic device determines that the vehicle is near thelocation (“YES”), the electronic device may retrieve (block 420), fromat least one image sensor, a set of image data depicting an operator ofthe vehicle. Further, the electronic device may analyze (block 425) theset of image data to identify a set of visual characteristics of theoperator. According to embodiments, the set of visual characteristicsmay be any movements, states, or actions of the operator that may bedepicted in the set of image data. It should be appreciated that theelectronic device may retrieve the set of image data before, concurrentwith, or after identifying the location and/or collecting oraccumulating the set of sensor data.

The electronic device may determine (block 430) whether the operator isdistracted. In particular, the electronic device may determine whetherthe operator is distracted based on the set of visual characteristicsidentified in block 425, the set of sensor data collected or accumulatedin block 410, and/or the vehicle being near the location. In anembodiment, the electronic device may determine whether the operator isdistracted based on the set of visual characteristics, and may thencollect or accumulate the set of sensor data. In a particularimplementation, the electronic device may calculate a risk score basedon the vehicle being near the location and the operator of the vehiclebeing distracted (i.e., based on the set of visual characteristics), andmay determine that the risk score exceeds a threshold value. If theelectronic device determines that the operator is not distracted (“NO”),processing may repeat, end, or proceed to other functionality.

If the electronic device determines that the operator is distracted(“YES”), the electronic device may optionally determine (block 435) anaction for the vehicle to undergo to improve vehicle operation safety.In embodiments, the electronic device may determine the action based onany of the level of distraction of the vehicle operator, the set ofsensor data, and the location of the vehicle.

The electronic device may also generate (block 440) a notification. Inembodiments, the notification may include information associated withthe location that is prone to distraction-related incidents, any actiondetermined in block 435, and/or general advice for the operator to be onalert. The electronic device may present (block 445) the notificationvia a user interface. Accordingly, the operator may review and assessthe notification and the content thereof. In an optional embodiment, theelectronic device may automatically cause (block 450) the vehicle toactivate an autonomous mode. As a result, control of the vehicle maytransition from the operator to an on-board computer of the vehicle.

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of an exemplary mobile or other electronicdevice 510 (such as one of the electronic devices 131, 132, 246 asdiscussed with respect to FIGS. 1C and 2) in which the functionalitiesas discussed herein may be implemented. It should be appreciated thatthe electronic device 510 may be configured to be transported in avehicle and/or connect to an on-board telematics platform of thevehicle, as discussed herein. Further, it should be appreciated that theelectronic device 510 may be integrated into an on-board system of thevehicle.

The electronic device 510 may include a processor 572 as well as amemory 578. The memory 578 may store an operating system 579 capable offacilitating the functionalities as discussed herein as well as a set ofapplications 575 (i.e., machine readable instructions). For example, oneof the set of applications 575 may be an operation assessmentapplication 590 configured to analyze image and telematics data,identify risks, and facilitate notification communication. It should beappreciated that one or more other applications 591 are envisioned.

The processor 572 may interface with the memory 578 to execute theoperating system 579 and the set of applications 575. According to someembodiments, the memory 578 may also include other data 580 that mayinclude any data (e.g., image profile data, telematics data, locationdata, etc.) related to facilitating the functionalities as discussedherein. The memory 578 may include one or more forms of volatile and/ornon-volatile, fixed and/or removable memory, such as read-only memory(ROM), electronic programmable read-only memory (EPROM), random accessmemory (RAM), erasable electronic programmable read-only memory(EEPROM), and/or other hard drives, flash memory, MicroSD cards, andothers.

The electronic device 510 may further include a communication module 577configured to communicate data via one or more networks 592. Accordingto some embodiments, the communication module 577 may include one ormore transceivers (e.g., WWAN, WLAN, and/or WPAN transceivers)functioning in accordance with IEEE standards, 3GPP standards, or otherstandards, and configured to receive and transmit data via one or moreexternal ports 576. Further, the communication module 577 may include ashort-range network component (e.g., an RFID reader) configured forshort-range network communications. For example, the communicationmodule 577 may receive, via the network 592, image data from a set ofimage sensors and telematics data from a set of additional sensors.

The electronic device 510 may further include a set of sensors 584. Theprocessor 572 and the set of applications 575 may interface with the setof sensors 584 to retrieve and process the corresponding sensor data.The set of sensors 584 may include, for example, a location module, anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, one or more image sensors, and/or the like.In one particular implementation, the operation assessment application590 may use various data from the set of sensors 584 to facilitatecertain functionalities.

The electronic device 510 may further include a user interface 581configured to present information to a user and/or receive inputs fromthe user. As shown in FIG. 5, the user interface 581 may include adisplay screen 582 and I/O components 583 (e.g., ports, capacitive orresistive touch sensitive input panels, keys, buttons, lights, LEDs,speakers, microphones). According to some embodiments, the user mayaccess the electronic device 510 via the user interface 581 to reviewinformation and/or perform other functions. In some embodiments, theelectronic device 510 may perform the functionalities as discussedherein as part of a “cloud” network or may otherwise communicate withother hardware or software components within the cloud to send,retrieve, or otherwise analyze data.

In general, a computer program product in accordance with an embodimentmay include a computer usable storage medium (e.g., standard randomaccess memory (RAM), an optical disc, a universal serial bus (USB)drive, or the like) having computer-readable program code embodiedtherein, wherein the computer-readable program code may be adapted to beexecuted by the processor 572 (e.g., working in connection with theoperating system 579) to facilitate the functions as described herein.In this regard, the program code may be implemented in any desiredlanguage, and may be implemented as machine code, assembly code, bytecode, interpretable source code or the like (e.g., via C, C++, Java,Actionscript, Objective-C, Javascript, CSS, XML). In some embodiments,the computer program product may be part of a cloud network ofresources.

Although the following text sets forth a detailed description ofnumerous different embodiments, it should be understood that the legalscope of the invention may be defined by the words of the claims setforth at the end of this patent. The detailed description is to beconstrued as exemplary only and does not describe every possibleembodiment, as describing every possible embodiment would beimpractical, if not impossible. One could implement numerous alternateembodiments, using either current technology or technology developedafter the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within thescope of the claims.

Throughout this specification, plural instances may implementcomponents, operations, or structures described as a single instance.Although individual operations of one or more methods are illustratedand described as separate operations, one or more of the individualoperations may be performed concurrently, and nothing requires that theoperations be performed in the order illustrated. Structures andfunctionality presented as separate components in example configurationsmay be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly,structures and functionality presented as a single component may beimplemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (e.g., code embodiedon a non-transitory, machine-readable medium) or hardware. In hardware,the routines, etc., are tangible units capable of performing certainoperations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. Inexample embodiments, one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone,client or server computer system) or one or more hardware modules of acomputer system (e.g., a processor or a group of processors) may beconfigured by software (e.g., an application or application portion) asa hardware module that operates to perform certain operations asdescribed herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that may be permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that may betemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules may provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it may becommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and may operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment, or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The performance of certain of the operations may be distributed amongthe one or more processors, not only residing within a single machine,but deployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments,the one or more processors or processor-implemented modules may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the one or more processors or processor-implemented modulesmay be distributed across a number of geographic locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment may be included in at leastone embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” invarious places in the specification are not necessarily all referring tothe same embodiment.

The terms “insurer,” “insuring party,” and “insurance provider” are usedinterchangeably herein to generally refer to a party or entity (e.g., abusiness or other organizational entity) that provides insuranceproducts, e.g., by offering and issuing insurance policies. Typically,but not necessarily, an insurance provider may be an insurance company.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “may include,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also may include the plural unless itis obvious that it is meant otherwise.

This detailed description is to be construed as examples and does notdescribe every possible embodiment, as describing every possibleembodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One could implementnumerous alternate embodiments, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this application.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method in an electronicdevice, the method comprising: identifying a location that is deemed tobe prone to distraction-related incidents; accumulating, from a set ofsensors, a set of sensor data during operation of a vehicle; analyzing,by a computer processor, the set of sensor data, comprising: determiningthat the vehicle is located within a threshold distance of the location,determining that an operator of the vehicle is distracted, calculating arisk score based on the vehicle being located within the thresholddistance of the location and the operator of the vehicle beingdistracted, and determining that the risk score exceeds a thresholdvalue; generating a notification indicating a risk associated with theoperation of the vehicle; and presenting the notification via a userinterface of the electronic device.
 2. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, wherein accumulating the set of sensor data comprises:determining, from a location module, a current location of theelectronic device, wherein the current location is within the thresholddistance of the location; and wherein identifying the location that isdeemed to be prone to distraction-related incidents includes:retrieving, from a server, information associated with the location; anddetermining, based on the information, that the location is prone todistraction-related incidents.
 3. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein accumulating the set of sensor data comprises:retrieving, from at least one image sensor, a set of image datadepicting the operator of the vehicle.
 4. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 3, wherein determining that the operator of the vehicleis distracted comprises: analyzing the set of image data to identify aset of visual characteristics of the operator depicted in the set ofimage data; and determining, based on the set of visual characteristics,that the operator is distracted.
 5. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein accumulating the set of sensor data comprises:collecting, from the set of sensors, a set of telematics data associatedwith the operation of the vehicle.
 6. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein accumulating the set of sensor data comprises:collecting, from the set of sensors, a set of telematics data associatedwith the operation of the vehicle; and retrieving, from at least oneimage sensor, a set of image data depicting the operator of the vehicle.7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising, inresponse to determining that the operator of the vehicle is distracted:automatically causing the vehicle to activate an autonomous mode.
 8. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating thenotification comprises: determining an action for the vehicle to undergoto improve safety of the operation of the vehicle; and generating thenotification indicating the action for the vehicle to undergo.
 9. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining that thevehicle is located within the threshold distance of the locationcomprises: determining, based on at least one of location data, velocitydata, and heading data, that the vehicle is located within the thresholddistance of the location.
 10. An electronic device, comprising: a userinterface configured to present content; a memory storing non-transitorycomputer executable instructions; and a processor configured tointerface with the user interface and the memory, wherein the processoris configured to execute the non-transitory computer executableinstructions to cause the processor to: identify a location that isdeemed to be prone to distraction-related incidents, accumulate, from aset of sensors, a set of sensor data during operation of a vehicle,analyze the set of sensor data, comprising: determine that the vehicleis located within a threshold distance of the location, determine thatan operator of the vehicle is distracted, calculate a risk score basedon the vehicle being located within the threshold distance of thelocation and the operator of the vehicle being distracted, and determinethat the risk score exceeds a threshold value, generate a notificationindicating a risk associated with the operation of the vehicle, andpresent the notification via a user interface of the electronic device.11. The system of claim 10, further comprising: a location moduleconfigured to generate location data; and a transceiver configured tocommunicate via at least one network connection; wherein to accumulatethe set of sensor data, the processor is configured to: determine, fromthe location data, a current location of the electronic device, whereinthe current location is within the threshold distance of the location,and wherein to identify the location that is deemed to be prone todistraction-related incidents, the processor is configured to: retrieve,from a server via the transceiver, information associated with thelocation, and determine, based on the information, that the location isprone to distraction-related incidents.
 12. The system of claim 10,wherein to accumulate the set of sensor data, the processor isconfigured to: retrieve, from at least one image sensor, a set of imagedata depicting the operator of the vehicle.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein to determine that the operator of the vehicle is distracted, theprocessor is configured to: analyze the set of image data to identify aset of visual characteristics of the operator depicted in the set ofimage data, and determine, based on the set of visual characteristics,that the operator is distracted.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein toaccumulate the set of sensor data, the processor is configured to:collect, from the set of sensors, a set of telematics data associatedwith the operation of the vehicle.
 15. The system of claim 10, whereinto accumulate the set of sensor data, the processor is configured to:collect, from the set of sensors, a set of telematics data associatedwith the operation of the vehicle, and retrieve, from at least one imagesensor, a set of image data depicting the operator of the vehicle. 16.The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to,in response to determining that the operator of the vehicle isdistracted: automatically cause the vehicle to activate an autonomousmode.
 17. The system of claim 10, wherein to generate the notification,the processor is configured to: determine an action for the vehicle toundergo to improve safety of the operation of the vehicle, and generatethe notification indicating the action for the vehicle to undergo. 18.The system of claim 10, wherein to determine that the vehicle is locatedwithin the threshold distance of the location, the processor isconfigured to: determine, based on at least one of location data,velocity data, and heading data, that the vehicle is located within thethreshold distance of the location.